Funny things you found out about your truck after you bought it....

[mattfranklin]

My crank was 0.010 under. And was running STD rod bearings! It sounded frequent like rockers and deep like a rod knock. Like a bad rod knock on every cylinder!

[slomotion]

I was getting ready to modify the running gear (engine and trans,) in mine when I discovered it was one of eleven or less ever built in it's configuration. I left it virtually stock and have grown to really like the 292.

[66clow]

I nightmare of wiring issues throughout!

[Boog]

Stuff like that could make you wake up at night in a cold sweat.

[Al1957]

I was also impressed with the fiber optic shift indicator light. A true engineer with a vision of the future.

[Steeveedee]

That fiber optic cable to the shifter indicator light goes back to at least '68 in cars. I don't know when it started on trucks. One went to the ignition switch, too, IIRC.

[garyd1961]

Originally Posted by weim55

Five hundred dollars in cash neatly tucked in an envelope and sandwiched in the seat springs. Looked like it had been there for many decades and the old bills proved it.........

Steve weim55 Colorado

Be right back............






.....darn it.

[harpo231]

Originally Posted by slomotion

I was getting ready to modify the running gear (engine and trans,) in mine when I discovered it was one of eleven or less ever built in it's configuration. I left it virtually stock and have grown to really like the 292.

how do you find out how many were built in your config ?

[mike16]

bought a 57 gmc parked it for 4 years and went to clean it out one day and found a ruger 22 pistol in the box under the seat. went back to the previous owner and he had passed away.

[fatbass]

Bought my 1st '71 K10 in '81 and for the 6 years I drove it before I repainted it there was a rattle from the front passenger side I could not pin down.
When I tore it down I found a rusted pair of needle-nose pliers lying at the bottom of the fender.

[morepower71]

Found this jewel of a hood ornament under the seat cleaning the 70 GMC after I picked it up.

[sprint_9]

My truck came from my wife's family, no smokers in the family. One of the first drives I pulled out the ash tray to find it crammed full of cigarettes.

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by harpo231

how do you find out how many were built in your config ?

This was 10-12 years ago a couple years after I had bought the truck. It's a C20 with a dual rear axle. I had been told several times that the dual axle never came on the C20's with coil springs, but started with C30's and leaf springs.
Long story short, I called for a "Restoration Packet" at 800 222 1020. I don't even know if they still do it, but back then you provide them with your VIN and they make up and send you a packet describing your truck and accessories.
In my case they couldn't provide a kit because in "....1968 Chevrolet didn't keep track of 1% or less of a particular run. In '68 there were 1,032 (IIRC) C20 flatbeds built and with your build sheet showing a dual axle code you have one of eleven or less."
My truck was in a magazine several years ago and because of that I heard from two other owners. One of them said he had one in the barn and was two days from taking his to a crusher when he saw the article. I think he changed his mind.

[morepower71]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

My truck came from my wife's family, no smokers in the family. One of the first drives I pulled out the ash tray to find it crammed full of cigarettes.

Ha well no one that was an open smoker... Sounds like my grandpa. Was a smoker is whole life but "quit" 10 years before his death. Or so we thought until we cleaned his house and shop after he passed.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I took the 71/402/SWB/AC to my mechanic before I bought it, because I was young and dumb with VERY little mechanical sense. Anyway, less the dealer's cheap paint job and bed in poor shape from abuse including a 5th wheel & saddle tanks, the truck was in outstanding condition & unmolested. Still didn't realize what I had until a recent tear down............Point is I paid $2,700, cough!. Add I didn't even know what a BBC was. So in answer to the thread title with a twist, my truck found out I was ignorant buyer with a stroke of luck.

Other than that..................Said visit to the mechanic produced one concern, and that was "steering box needs replaced (leaks)". Flash forward 30 years, I'll send it out next year.

[Zone47]

Originally Posted by OregonNed

I bought mine from a 91 year old gentleman and wondered why there was an explicit rap type CD in the stereo.

Maybe his kid drove it? That's a weird one.


Since this thread, I've been looking for secret wads of cash tucked away.

[Dieselwrencher]

When I got my 72 it had a pretty decent spare tire holder on the front bumper in front of the grill. My brother bashed the snot out of it with a skid loader and bent it all up one winter storm. A few years after I took it off I had a guy tell me he would have given me $500 for it if it was not all beat up. Thanks Bro!

[Already Gone]

The only weird thing is in the last two trucks I bought with one being my present Highlander the ashtrays were stuffed with about 15/16.00 in coins.

[mgm60]

Driving my truck back from Mississippi to Colorado on a two day drive after I bought it. In the 80s both days and loving the A/C. 3 hours before Denver the outside temps dropped into the 30s and I couldn't turn the A/C off....
Nearly froze my _ss off before I got home. Turns out the PO had installed a second cutoff valve in the heater hose.

Funny now....miserable then...

mgm60

[BlazinC5]

beware of buying from a highly competent welder,,, Tip: They like to weld EVERYTHING... Bumpers, steps, poorly engineered traction bars. I invested in a very nice Milwaukee hand grinder....

[Keystone_Hate]

My 72 had been repainted at some point, very poorly, and you can see through it because its so thin. One of the owners at some point had pinstriped some names right under the windows on the driver and passenger doors, kinda like pilot/co-pilot names on the cockpit of a jet.

You can barely read the names but can see the shadow through the paint job over them and I discovered the name on the passenger side door is the same as my mother's, "Sandy", and the name on the driver side door is "Buddy" which is what my dad has called me for as long as I can remember.

[snailhouse_projects]

well I bought my 72 not too long ago from a man going through a divorce for $200. it was a good running truck. my son and I rebuilt a 355 for it and when get ready to pull the motor we find that the headers were welded to the exhaust at the collector flange, so we have to take them out making a 6,000 piece jig saw puzzle look easy. after that we pull the 2 speed powerglide out and swap in a turbo 400. I don't know if these trucks came from the factory with a 2 speed... after the motor swap my wife and I take it for a ride to grab some dinner at a drive in and I go to turn the truck off and it wont shut off when the lights have been turned on unless you cycle the lights in this pattern : on-off-on-off-on-off. also the rear bumper is a "custom fitted" 73 or 74 sport bumper. just recently found out that the motor that was in the truck was a 400, never thought to look into the motor cause we just wanted the fresh one in there. pulled the seat to check some issues with the fuel tank and found and envelope with $1500 and an invoice for alfalfa purchase. went back to the guy that I bought it from and asked if he ever bought some alfalfa or sold alfalfa and he said no. gave him the story on what I found and he said "well son, its your lucky day I guess"
I bought him a couple of 12 packs and made my way home.

[Greg58]

Originally Posted by weim55

Five hundred dollars in cash neatly tucked in an envelope and sandwiched in the seat springs. Looked like it had been there for many decades and the old bills proved it.........

Steve weim55 Colorado

The same thing happened to my brother!
He bought a motor home from a dealer, it is a diesel pusher.
To access the top of the engine, he had to remove the mattress at the back of the coach. There he found an envelope hidden with $600 cash in it.
He had probably had the thing for 2 years before he found it.

Greg

[northerngmc]

When I bought my 59 GMC in 1989 I drove it home 2 blocks before I started tearing into the truck.

The battery was connected backwards, positive ground. I swapped them around and polarized the generator and all was good.

My dad bought a John Deere B and it would making a knocking noise under load. He tore into the engine and found one half of a crank bearing shell in the bottom of the pan. It must have fallen out during installation. It idled just fine.....

[Eastonspeedworks]

When I turned 16 i decided to buy a old Chevy truck I'd been checking out for a couple years. The guy made me a great deal on it 300 bucks. So I pay the guy and me and my dad get to work on getting it running at his house. The guy was telling us the history of the truck as we worked. His brother bought it new and gave it to him when he was having some money problems. It was fun hearing how he ordered the 292 but didn't want anything else at all. So finally we get the truck going and just before we leave he decides to tell us about how it became their hunting truck for a few years. He claimed it would go where the 4x4 guys wouldn't dare! Turns out they accomplished this with speed. Anyways later when I decided to crawl under the thing I found they had hit a boulder so hard they bent the suspension and transmission crossmember! To add to it the bed hit the cab and tore both the fenders off the body at the bottoms. At the end of the day it turned out to be a great truck only needing a set of points and fresh fuel to get it going. I drove it all through high school and then decided to build a custom truck put of it.